About book Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales Of Epic Humiliation (2013)
I love Aisha Tyler, so I was very, very disappointed in this book. Her standup is solid, insightful and raucous and she is an obviously very intelligent, confident and interesting woman, so it was honestly a surprise that this felt so flat and turgid. The frame of the stories is that Tyler wounds herself in some way (physically, emotionally, psychologically, etc.), and then tells us how she is to blame for this. There are a few times that this works, but most of the stories are simply events (as a child a spring horse toy breaks and she is cut by it) that she was present for, or else the "blame" is some backwards explanation. This is a problem because Tyler is the only one that cares about the frame, even though she pretty quickly realizes she doesn't have enough examples. What really grew tedious, however, was hearing about how she was a nerd with no friends, when every story after her early childhood were stories about the things her and her many friends got up to, as they drank and partied throughout the country. But no, Tyler will then lecture the reader, she really is a loner with nothing.Finally, Tyler wishes to lecture us. Be prepared for LOTS of speeches in which Tyler explains a very simple idea (perseverance is important, failure is a fact of life, etc.) in excruciating length and with a condescending attitude. It isn't that the advice is bad (it's actually good), it's that it is basic and relayed here with no real feeling, only the sense that you're being lectured.I laughed every once in a while, there are some interesting pieces throughout and Aisha Tyler's story is actually very inspiring on a number of levels--it's just not a very funny comedy book or a particularly well-written memoir. This gently amusing meander through the incidental stories in Aisha Tyler's life is warm and endearing. If you come away from it feeling somewhat divorced or cold i suggest you visit your doctor.She is a Clumsy, overly confident sweetheart. We meet her at 5, overly tall and wandering the streets of her neighbourhood with her friends in search of fun.We see her traveling around the Bay in search of nightclubs that would let her in at 17, then her dad comes to get her.Infinitely warm and sweet.
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I love Aisha Tyler. This book is better then her first.
—Liz
I would so love to have a few beers with Aisha Tyler.
—SoteloA
